This thesis begins research into a novel “vapor box” design for a tokamak
divertor, intended to enable greater heat and particle capture than current
solid plate designs. It consists of a box filled with lithium vapor, later adapted
to a chain of five vapor-filled boxes with length and width 0.4m connected
by slots of width 0.1m. These boxes are situated along a fixed temperature
gradient and their walls are covered with capillary-porous material containing
liquid lithium. Consider the plasma entering the box as a “sheet” absorbing
energy and particles and re-emitting them into the lithium vapor in the hottest
box. The slots between the boxes serve as effective vapor pumps from box to
box. Calculations of density, vapor temperature, and mass and power flow from
box to box are made. It is discovered that the mass and power effluxes back
into the main plasma chamber are modest. In addition, these vapor densities
appear sufficient to stop particles of up to 20 keV. Theoretical investigation is
also in progress with respect to understanding plasma-vapor interactions and
plasma dynamics within the sheet itself. Future work includes solutions to the
differential equations governing plasma motion in this system and 2D modeling
of the vapor box, as well as benchmark physical experiments on an actual vapor
box and eventual testing on a tokamak.